Governments around the world have adopted policies to protect wildlife, land, fresh water, air and marine resources. With the unprecedented draw down of critical natural resources, however, current policies cannot keep pace with today’s environmental challenges.

Column Items

Column Item

EditItem Text:Depleting critical natural resources can lead to instability, mass migration and regional conflict. In Somalia, overharvesting of fish stocks has driven some fishermen to piracy. In 2010, member countries of NATO spent an estimated US$ 2 billion to address Somali piracy in the sea lanes off the Horn of Africa.

Column Item

EditItem Text:Governments around the world are recognizing the value of nature to long-term employment and prosperity, as well as the importance of natural resource stewardship to economic and global security. In 2012, leaders from 10 African countries agreed to integrate sustainable natural resource management into their economic development plans.

Column Item

EditItem Text:Around the world governments are working with local communities, businesses and nonprofit organizations to ensure proper management of the seas and lands so that they can support productive fisheries and farms.

Column Item

EditItem Text:From New York City to southwestern China, governments are creating innovative ways for downstream water users to pay upstream landowners to maintain and restore forest areas and to prevent pollution. These “Payment for Ecosystem Services” programs help sustain freshwater resources for current and future generations.

Column Item

EditItem Text:Conserving the world’s tropical forests is essential for mitigating the impacts of climate change. In 2009, the Government of Norway committed up to US $250 million to support Guyana’s efforts to promote sustainable economic development and to mitigate climate change through protection of the country’s forests.

EditText:The scale and sophistication of illegal logging, fishing and wildlife trafficking threaten to overwhelm government personnel, equipment and technology available for enforcement. More than 1,000 park rangers worldwide have died in the line of duty – many of them victims of homicide – during the last decade. In recent years, governments from countries such as Cameroon and Botswana have had to deploy military forces to combat wildlife poaching.

EditText:In 2011, the 29 western nations that make up the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Development Assistance Committee dedicated US$ 6.1 billion to biodiversity-related aid – an amount representing 5% of total bilateral official development assistance. But with concerns over mounting budget deficits and other domestic economic problems, governments are under increasing pressure to cut foreign aid. As threats to the world’s natural resources are increasing, economic uncertainties are challenging the ability of governments to sustain funding levels for international conservation.

CI provided technical input that influenced the proceedings of the 2010 UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Nagoya, Japan, where 200 countries reached a historic accord to increase global protection area goals from 1% to 13% of oceans and from 10% to 17% of terrestrial areas.

$10+ billion

Over $10 billion in U.S. funding was secured in FY11-FY14 congressional appropriations for Development Assistance and the Global Environment Facility, including key programs for forest conservation, wildlife protection, healthy marine ecosystems, sustainable landscapes and adaptation.

$250 million

CI provided scientific and policy analyses to support the inclusion of incentives to protect standing forests the UN forest conservation mechanism known as REDD+. As a result, the Government of Guyana committed to a low-carbon development program and the government of Norway pledged US $250 million to support Guyana.

$2 billion

CI and BirdLife International led a coalition of seven European NGOs to increase funding for international conservation and the environment in the European Union’s 2014-2020 budget by US$ 800 million – bringing the total investment to US$ 2 billion.

​​​​​​​Images Carousel (2 with rollover text)

Carousel Configuration

EditText:Meeting today’s environmental challenges requires the combined resources and ingenuity of both the public and private sectors. CI helps bring together governments, businesses, international institutions, research and academic organizations, NGOs and other partners.

EditCaption Description:More than 850,000 dams operate around the world, and developing nations are rapidly constructing more. Can we reduce poverty and protect ecosystems while building needed water infrastructure?

​​​​​​​Images Carousel (2 with rollover text)

Carousel Configuration

EditText:CI serves as a trusted advisor to local, regional and national governments. We help inform policy decisions related to ocean health, wildlife trafficking, marine resources, forest conservation, sustainable agriculture, fresh water and other crucial issues. We also work with countries to meet commitments under international treaties related to biodiversity, climate change, endangered species and fisheries.

Mobilizing public funding for conservation

CI helps shape development assistance programs of the United States, Japan, Germany and Norway in order to provide maximum returns on investment in natural resource conservation and human well-being. Development assistance funding provides much-needed support for conservation work by CI and partners in many countries. CI also helps to inform government contributions to the
Global Environment Facility and other institutions that help fund solutions to biodiversity loss, climate change, wildlife trafficking and other key challenges of our time.

Raising awareness

Through education, engagement with partners and communication, we work to raise awareness about the importance of natural resources for human well-being. Our efforts help policymakers recognize the direct connection between resource scarcity and global and economic security.